Home
by z3ro cool
Summary: Yuffie reflects on her relationship with Vincent as they wake up together.
1. Chapter 1: Home

**Home

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**Author's Note: **Writing from prompts is by far the awesomest thing ever. I can write one, go back to my homework, and then go back and edit once I'm done. I can't even begin to imagine how much I'm going to get done over winter break. Two more weeks of school, yay!

**Disclaimer:** The Final Fantasy series and all of its associated content are property of Square Enix. I am making no profit from this whatsoever.

* * *

Yuffie rolled over, smiling when she noticed that she was awake a minute before the alarm went off. She hurriedly pushed the switch to turn the infernal machine off completely and rolled onto her back to look over at the man sleeping beside her. He was nude; her red sheets resting just below his hips. His scarred chest rose and fell with each breath he took.

Vincent was peaceful in his sleep, his mouth falling into as neutral an expression as he could possibly make. All of the pain he seemed to carry with him during the day dissipated at night, leaving the Vincent she saw on a regular basis. Happy? As happy as Vincent could get, she supposed. Over the last four years, she had been working on breaking down the cold façade of the older man, and she was proud to say that it was working.

She rolled over against him, tangling one hand in his hair while the other went down to lightly caress his side. He had been gone for the last week on some mission for Reeve that sent him out to Wutai. She wasn't sure why she couldn't have been the one to go, since it was her home after all, but Reeve felt that Vincent was a more appropriate agent for this one. She deftly moved her fingers through his hair to untangle a snag when she felt his arms tighten around her.

"I hope you aren't braiding it and putting flowers in it like last time," his deep voice murmured against her neck. Yuffie smiled and rested her chin against the top of his head.

"Would you really be mad if I was?" She asked, letting her hand on his side drift down to his back to get a tighter hold on him. They lay together in silence, which Yuffie assumed was Vincent's way of saying that he wouldn't be mad at her. She dropped a soft kiss on the top of his head, letting her mind wander.

It was moments like these when she couldn't be more thankful for how lucky she was. When Reeve had partnered them together four years ago, neither of them had had any idea that it would lead to this. She had felt lost without him while he hunted the members of Deepground, and it felt as though she had been ripped in two when he disappeared for a month after his final battle.

On his thirty-second day missing, he arrived at her home just after darkness had fallen. She had been resting on the couch, watching the news for any hints of his whereabouts, or even for whispers of things that could have been his doing. When she had heard a knock at the door, she grabbed several small ninja stars before going and looking through her peephole, which was blocked by a hand.

She opened the door slowly, hoping that whoever was outside wouldn't be strong enough to break through the chain lock in one go. After peeking out, she nearly ripped the door off the chain herself in her attempt to get to him faster. For the next ten minutes he said nothing as she clung to him, hurriedly explaining how worried she had been and how she had thought he was dead.

She had first kissed him in that moment, so happy to see him standing in front of her that she threw all of her inhibitions and fears of rejection out the window. He had kissed her back before pulling away and asking if they could go inside. She had brought him in, looked over his wounds, and then slept at his side so that he couldn't leave again. She didn't really have much to worry about; he had scarcely left since.

For the next year and a half, they didn't officially live together. Vincent still maintained his own residence, which was his way of saying he went over and checked the mail every other day. But his nights were spent lying next to her in her bed. Yuffie had demanded that all of their missions be done together from now on, which Reeve, in his guilt over the Deepground fiasco, was more than happy to oblige on most occasions. Yuffie couldn't quite remember the point at which their relationship had turned into a romantic one. She supposed all the time spent sharing a bed and waking up tangled in sheets and his arms had been romantic in its own way, given Vincent's general lack of initiative in the romance department.

She guessed she considered their first mission apart when their relationship truly began. He had been gone for three days, and for those three days she had been completely alone in her apartment in Edge. The mission was only supposed to take two days, and Reeve soon began calling her, asking her to go check Vincent's apartment and see if he had returned. Of course, she didn't. She knew he wouldn't be there. On the third day when he had returned, they made love for the first time. It was after that encounter that she told him Reeve had been looking for him, asking her to go to his apartment to check on him.

Vincent had shocked her then by staying completely still, resting against her. He made no move to call Reeve, or even indicate that he indeed cared. Yuffie nudged him. "Aren't you going to call him?"

"No," Vincent had replied. "Tomorrow, I think, I will let him know that should he wish to find me, he should just contact you. You're more of a home to me than that apartment has ever been."

And that was the way it had been ever since. He had sold his apartment and moved in with her shortly afterward. She thought back to that statement as she continued to run her fingers through his hair. Home. She hadn't given it much thought at the time, assuming that he was trying to tell her how he felt and that it was best that she didn't question it too much. Her mind wandered to their friends, Tifa in particular. The older woman was still waiting for Cloud to come to his senses and realize what had been right in front of him all along. Yuffie couldn't imagine having to wait for someone as long as Tifa had waited for that spikey-headed moron.

But perhaps Tifa was home for Cloud, just not in the same way that she was home for Vincent. Cloud knew that he always had someone to return to who loved and needed him. Maybe that was all he needed. Yuffie sighed. She just hoped that maybe someday, preferably soon, he'd consider what Tifa might need too.

"We should probably get up," she said softly as she let out a deep breath.

"Or not, since it's Saturday and you forgot to turn off the alarm last night," Vincent replied as he buried his face deeper into her neck, trailing light kisses up to her jaw.

"…"

"You're starting to sound like me," he murmured, pulling her down to capture her lips. "Go back to sleep."

"…make me," Yuffie retorted, pressing another soft kiss to his lips after he had pulled away.

Vincent sat up abruptly, pinning her to the bed in one swift move. She grinned before wrapping her legs around his waist and pulling him down to her. Vincent's lips hovered next to her ear, his breath hot against her skin. "Is that a challenge?"

Yuffie sighed as he began kissing back down her neck and across her collarbone. "I'm glad you're home."

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**Author's Note:** I've been playing Dirge of Cerberus so I'm on a Yuffentine kick. This almost turned into a lemon, eeeeeek!


	2. Prequel: Phone Calls

**Phone Calls

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**Author's Note:** This is the prequel to Home, and it details some of the events mentioned in there, so you might want to read that one first. I'm going to be so sick of Final Fantasy by the time I finish this prompt chart. It's the only fandom I'm getting ideas for. Five more stories and I'm switching to Suikoden. If you haven't played it or heard of it, get it. It's my second favorite RPG series of all time.

**Disclaimer:** The Final Fantasy series and all of its associated content are property of Square Enix. I am making no profit from this whatsoever.

* * *

Vincent hated inns. Reeve had sent him on an extended mission up north, and he found himself needing a good night's sleep before he returned home to Yuffie's apartment in Edge, where he had been staying. Icicle Inn was probably the nicest inn he had ever stayed in, but it was still an inn nonetheless. He walked up the stairs and found his room at the first door on the right.

The room itself was nice, he supposed. He immediately removed his cloak, draping it over a chair in the corner of the room. His boots were the next to go. The holster and gun strapped to his leg found themselves discarded on the small table in front of the window. In less than a minute, he was naked and in the shower. The water was warm and he let it run over his shoulders and down his back as he stood under the heavy spray.

He needed this. Reeve wouldn't mind footing the bill, he was sure. This would extend his mission by a day. He hoped Reeve wouldn't send anyone out after him. He ran a hand through his tangled hair and sighed deeply. There was no way he would've made it home on such a little amount of sleep.

His shower was short lived. He knew if he stayed in much longer, he'd end up falling asleep in there and that would be no good. He quickly dried himself with one of the inns towels and then collapsed face-first on the sizeable bed he had been provided with.

Nearly ten hours later, he awoke. The sun was shining brightly through the windows, no doubt reflecting off the miles of snow on the hills around the inn. Vincent squinted, wishing he had had the foresight to close the blinds the night before. The clock on the bedside table read eleven thirty. He had missed the free breakfast cut off. Damn.

He dressed slowly, noting which regions of his body still ached from travel and the lumpy bed he had spent the night on. There was simply no comparison between beds in inns and the bed he shared with Yuffie at home. But it was of no matter; he would be home soon enough and he could rest for days – Reeve be damned.

As he collected his cloak off the chair in the corner he noticed a green blinking light on the dresser. His phone. He remembered setting it down last night before his shower. He must've turned the ringer off accidentally.

He picked it up and flipped it open. Four missed calls? And a horde of unopened text messages that would more than likely take him the next month to respond to. Vincent sighed. He hoped Reeve didn't have some new directive for him to follow up on while he was in the area. He clicked the voicemail button and put the phone on speaker as he fastened his boots around his ankles.

"Vinnie? It's me. Reeve said you'd be home by now, and I'm getting a little worried. I know, I know. You're the great Vincent Valentine and there's nothing to worry about. Just, call me when you get this, okay? Bye."

Yuffie. He smiled a little as the message clicked over to the next one.

"Hey, it's me again. I'm guessing you probably don't have cell reception up there. Anyway, it's getting close to bedtime and I was thinking about you…not like that or anything. I miss you, Vince. Goodnight, wherever you are."

The next message clicked over. It had been left earlier this morning.

"I kind of had this wish that you'd be here when I woke up this morning. Please call me when you get this, Vince. I love you."

And the last message, left just an hour ago.

"Vincent Valentine, if you don't call me back within the next two hours, I'm coming to look for you myself. And when I find you, I'm going to kick your ass and make you sleep on the couch for the next year."

He smiled as he finished putting himself together. He took the phone off speaker and dialed Cid. It seemed as though he needed to get back home a little faster than he had originally thought.

* * *

He didn't bother calling Yuffie while Cid flew them to Edge. He knew she was working on projects for Reeve that were keeping her tied to Edge for at least the next week – her threat to come look for him was obviously not well thought-out.

It was nightfall by the time he arrived at the door to her apartment. He let himself in, pausing to take off his boots and hang his cape on the hook behind the door. Looking down the main hall, he saw her head sticking out of the living room, watching him with interest.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" She asked, her voice sharp. Her hand rested against the doorframe and she looked ready to return to her TV show at any moment. Vincent walked down the hallway toward her.

Stopping a few feet ahead of her, he shook his head. "No."

"Were you so busy looking that you couldn't pick up your phone? I left you messages. The least you could have done—"

She was cut off by his lips pressing against hers gently. He didn't pull away and she soon found herself tangling her hands in his hair and pressing against him. A few minutes later, she pulled back and rested her forehead against his.

"Vinnie—"

"Shhhh," Vincent murmured as he captured her lips once more. "I listened to all of your messages and I came back as soon as I could. As I understand, I'll be sleeping on the couch as soon as you kick my ass. Would you like to do that soon? I'm quite tired."

Yuffie smiled against his chest after wrapping her arms around his back. "Too tired to make it up to me?"

"What did you have in mind?" Vincent asked as he rested his chin against the top of her head.

Yuffie's hands stroked up his chest and came to rest on his shoulders. Her gray eyes met his red ones for a moment before she blushed and looked away. "Come to bed."

"If I go to bed, I'm liable to fall asleep," Vincent reasoned as she led him down the darkened hallway to her bedroom.

Yuffie smiled as she opened the door to her room and all but shoved Vincent onto the bed they had been sharing for the last few months. "Oh, I don't think you'll be sleeping."

* * *

Several hours later, Yuffie found herself blissfully sated and resting on her stomach in bed. Vincent was pressed against her back, right arm draped over her comfortably. She gently stroked the fingers of his claw before intertwining her fingers with them.

"Reeve's been looking for you, you know. Asked me to go to your apartment and look for you," she said softly. Though she wanted nothing more than to continue lying with the older man, she knew he would have wanted to know that much.

But Vincent didn't seem to care. He was kissing along her shoulder blades and stopped to rest his chin against her shoulder while she spoke.

"Aren't you going to call him?" Yuffie asked as she pressed back against him, savoring the feel of his warmth that she had been missing for the last three days.

It was a few more moments of silence before Vincent spoke. "No," he replied. "Tomorrow, I think, I will let him know that should he wish to find me, he should just contact you. You're more of a home to me than that apartment has ever been."

"Does that mean you're finally going to move in?" She asked excitedly. She rolled over and looked up at him. She and Tifa had only been talking about the possibility of Vincent moving in with her for…well, basically forever.

"Mmm," Vincent murmured as he took to kissing her again. Yuffie rolled onto her back, pulling him on top of her once more as she cupped his face and returned the kiss. "The things I have to do to make up for missed phone calls…"

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**Author's Note:** Yeah, I always get weirded out when I write lemons, so you can fill in your own blanks. But if you read Home and then you read this one, you know what went on. Please review :]


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